Bike Week - 13th June - 21st June
Wow! Bike Week '09 promises to be a huge success - with a bumper list of activities planned,we should hopefully see lots of people taking to their bikes.Today was the 2nd meeting with numerous partners attending. We worked through the list of events and the marketing plan. So far we have following:
- The week leading up to Bike Week, we are going into 5 schools and delivering a 'try cycling experience'. Approx 1000 children are expected to take part.
- Free Wheel- critical mass cycle ride from Palmer Park to Prospect Park (13 June)
- Family Cycle Festival at Prospect Park (13th June)
- Cyclocross event
- Family led rides
- Cyclists breakfast
- On/off road ride for beginners
- Cycling for Health sessions
- Cycle session for adults with learning disabilities
- Free 'My Ride' taster sessions at Palmer Park Gym
- Time Trial - come and try event
- Accessible Cycle Club event
Phew - as you can see, so much planned already. Please check back here next month for the final details....!
8 comments:
I hope these events are going to be listed on the Bike Week website; at the moment, it looks like Reading is doing nothing at all! (Sonning Common and Burghfield both have more going on!)
The only ones I'd heard of were the "Free Wheel" from Palmer Park to Prospect Park (is it really a "critical mass" ride, or is that just a handy phrase?), and the Cycle Festival, both on the opening Saturday of Bike Week.
Just to add: I hope, for the "Free Wheel", the Palmer Park bikes and trikes will be loaned out to their regular users (at least some of whom I know don't have their own cycles). Those adult tricycles of various sizes could be a point of interest at the Prospect Park Festival. (Need to keep tabs on them, though, to ensure they don't disappear...)
Some scheme for getting them back to Palmer Park will then be needed (preferably a return ride).
In fact, if one of the aims of Bike Week is to encourage people to use their bikes "for all those short trips we make each day", shouldn't there be regular trips from the Prospect Park Festival venue to other places round Reading?
How are the "Free Wheelers" going to get to Palmer Park in the first place? If they drive, many will want to cycle back, otherwise their cars will have to be driven over to Prospect Park to collect the cycles/cyclists from there.
Sounds to me like there needs to be an assortment of ancilliary rides from around Reading, bringing people from marshalling places around town to Palmer Park for the 09:00 start, and then rides from Prospect Park back to the original collection points (but at what time?).
Some other ideas:
Will the police be doing cycle-marking sessions?
Get Waitrose to do something regarding their trailer loan service (and possibly their delivery-by-bike service, though I don't believe that's available in Reading).
Yet another thing: according to Carlton Reid's new book, Family Cycling, reasons women (and teenage girls) don't cycle more often include safety, what to wear, and the weather.
Perhaps the Festival can address these issues. (But, please, not some guff about helmets!!! "Helmets" only serves to send the counter-productive message that cycling is dangerous, which it isn't, and should therefore be avoided. Count me out of any helmet-promoting spiel.)
"The weather" is a matter that affects uptake of cycling among both men and women, so I think a demonstration (not just a display of clothing in a stall) would be very beneficial. "The weather", as far as I'm concerned, means "hot", "cold", "windy" and "snowy" as well as "wet".
Carlton Reid's book mentions initiatives such as Beauty and the Bike; apparently, someone called Emma Osborne, Bike It officer for Exeter, is behind it. He also mentions specific fashion lines (such as My Lovely Cycling Dress) which, I admit, are completely beyond me. Perhaps people of this sort could be approached to present something?
Anon - yes, of course the events will be advertised on Bike Week's website. As you can see we have a lot planned already - I have asked partners to get back by Tuesday
14th regarding their events and then the marketing can commence.
Regarding the "Free Wheel/Critical Mass" - it is just a handy phrase and I'm hoping lots of cyclists will join in and take to the roads of Reading! With regards to lending bikes out - that's a very good idea and certainly could be accomadated- as could a ride back or using a courier van, for those who didn't want to?
I have tried to engage the Thames Valley Police - but with little or no success. I had planned to drop in and see the PCSO's at Cemetery Junction to see if they were interested in having a stand at the festival.
Oh, and I think that's an excellent idea regarding the clothing issue and what to wear for our rather changeable weather.
I'll look into that and let you know.
Thanks for the heads up!
Thanks for your answers!
I've just thought of something else: one (or more!) of the days of Bike/Trike Week should be designated RYB Day.
RYB Day: Whenever you encounter another cyclist you Ring Your Bell (whether it's a "ping", "ting-a-ling", "dong-dong", or air zound!). The youngsters will love it!
Another thing to bear in mind is that, on the second Saturday of Bike Week (20 June), there's a "Summer Solstice Bike Ride" (a charity event involving cycle rides from various starting points to Barbury Castle) with one of the starting points being Reading's Madjeski Stadium.
According to the "Summer Solstice Bike Ride" organiser's website Madjeski Stadium has "signed up to support the event by providing their grounds as start points, entering players and staff members in the event, and promoting the event to their fan base" (that's both Reading Football and London Irish rugby clubs, by my reckoning).
An attempt should be made to link-in to the Madjeski's work and gain some kind of synergy from it.
(The idea of a summer solstice event for Bike/Trike week itself isn't a bad one, either! But what?)
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